How much is your time really worth? Whether at work, as an employee or simply in everyday life?
It’s a strange question that we don’t ask ourselves often enough… And yet it makes sense. Because if 1 minute of your time was worth 1 euro, then you would make €1440 per day, that’s huge, isn’t it?
Some people might actually make €1 a minute, but that’s an exception, we agree…
How much is your time worth? I propose you to experience it thanks to my knowledge online calculator… Attention, it will wobble!
1 – Why should you know the value of your time?
Some will say that time has no value… And they are right! But if we could estimate and quantify it, We would certainly make better choices. How about that?
I speak in general: in business as in our everyday life…
Imagine if you only knew how much your time really costsdo you want to spend it on little things: sleeping until noon, zapping in front of the TV when the weather is so nice outside, etc.?
And in business? If you would know how much is your time worth Maybe you wouldn’t spend so much time responding to pseudo-prospects who aren’t bringing you anything? Could you consider a delegation? Or to use service providers etc.
When we realize that our time is valuablethat’s pretty obvious: let’s not get too complicated when it comes to preserving it…
So to answer the question “Why know the value of your time?”Well I would answer that it allows us Make the right decisions mindfully ! Let’s not hesitate any longer 🤣
2 – Time is money!
Who has never heard this saying? Who hasn’t said it? I say that very often myself!
For example, I would rather pay for a delivery service than drive to pick up my groceries. I know many people who tell me ” What ? 10€ delivery? You’re crazy, I’d rather go”… And then I unsheathe my favorite tirade: ” Time is money “…
Because yes it’s true I can walk there, I can drive, I have a car etc. But I lose at least an hour round trip, not counting gas!
So if I think about it: do I make more than 10 euros if I stay at home and work an extra hour a day? Definitely yes!
And this applies to all kinds of situations:
- Can I do the oil change or is it better to take my car to the workshop?
- Is it better for me to learn how to use Photoshop or hire a graphic designer?
- Should you follow thousands of YouTube tutorials or let a professional guide you?
In short, you got me: What is the benefit of investing your time in this or that action?
And there can be different answers:
- personal satisfaction
- Reuse of acquired knowledge
- save money
- Just for fun…
But in all of these situations, you will have it spent time.
I say “spend” and that doesn’t mean “lose”. Sometimes the time spent is an investment, sometimes it is an absolute loss.
So here it is, it’s all a matter of weight in the scales And it’s always better to be aware of this, especially in our job as freelancers or entrepreneurs…
Also Read: How to Set Graphic Designer or Editor Rates?
3 – How do you calculate the value of your time?
I didn’t invent anything. I recently watched a video of it Fabien Olicard, which was very interesting. The main topic was “How to manage your time better”. This gave me many ideas including how to write this article and how to create the article online calculator which you can find right below…
According to Fabien, we can calculate that Value of his time from the average of 4 key figures These are the following:
3.1 – The “Gift Card”
The first number you need to find is defined as follows:
Imagine you receive a gift card that you can redeem at the branch of your choice under two conditions:
- You cannot order online.
- You have to wait an hour at the cash register.
After you, What would be the amount? From this gift card would that be so acceptable that you would have to go to this store and wait an hour to benefit?
I’ve asked the question to several people around me and the amounts vary widely, I have to say it’s pretty funny! But I will not influence you, it is up to you to answer this question …
3.2 – The Emotionless Task
Here’s the second metric that will help you calculate the value of your time:
Imagine a rather daunting task that you neither enjoy nor dislike. A task that you can carry out, but that you can also delegate. For example, report your expenses in an Excel spreadsheet, delete spam in your mailbox, etc.
How much would you be willing to pay if someone else did it for you for an hour?
There, too, I had different answers around me. And of all the people interviewed, I was the most generous (maybe because I was the laziest 🤣)… But I won’t reveal more! It’s up to you to answer this question!
3.3 – The Actual Value of Your Hourly Rate
What is the actual value of your hourly rate – including travel expenses?
If you are an employee, this is easy to calculate. For example, if you earn $2,000 a month, work 35 hours a week, and spend 1 hour a day in transportation, the calculation isn’t rocket science.
On the other hand, if you are a freelancer/entrepreneur, things get a bit more complex. Ideally this should be measured over a year and not a month because you know our monthly income can make all the difference. The same goes for our lessons!
So the calculation to get this number looks like this: [(Salaire ou revenus nets) / (Nbr heures travaillées + Temps de trajet pour se rendre au travail)]
Personally, it was pretty easy since I’ve been using an app (Mac) called ” Daily (I already told you about it in this article on productivity). It’s the best of all I’ve tasted. If you use Windows, you will surely find equivalents. For example, thanks to Daily I know that I worked around 2080 hours in 2020, 1800 hours in 2021 and around 1700 hours in 2022. Then all I have to do is divide my annual earnings by this number of hours. I have chosen to use my net salary and not my sales.
For some, this number can be electrocutive! In fact, it calms down as I do the billing for my husband – chef and owner of his restaurant 🤣! For other types of work, the figure obtained is, shall we say, “more normal”…
Now it’s up to you to find this third ratio, it will be useful for the final calculation.
3.4 – The ideal hourly rate
Finally, this last number is quite easy to obtain.
It’s about introducing yourself to her ideal hourly rate. The one you would start feeling from Pay according to your skills.
Be careful, keep your feet on the ground because yes, everyone wants to make €10,000 an hour! No, try to imagine an honest and achievable hourly rate…
Again, I got different answers as I asked the question around me…
4 – Calculator for the value of your time
To quickly find out the value of your time, I have prepared a small online calculator, here it is:
Also Read: How to Set Freelancer Rates?
5 – Conclusion: Can we really calculate the value of our time?
Personally, I would like to be aware of the reality, but I have to admit that this calculation remains rather nebulous.
First, retirees can’t really calculate their hourly rate (Figure #3) since they receive a pension for nothing in return for work (let’s say the work has already been done in the past 😜). While their time is just as valuable as that of those who are active…
Then employees don’t react at all in the same way as entrepreneurs and freelancers. We know that the hourly rate we charge includes a whole host of duties and taxes that employees don’t see when they look at the last line of their payslip (the net amount after tax).
After all, it is very subjective and very different depending on our state of mind and the weather: every year, if you repeat the calculation, the number will surely be different, it will evolve…
Certainly this number should therefore be taken with tweezers, you shouldn’t take it literally and hand in your resignation tomorrow morning 🤣…
But I’m sure he can help us Realize (or just remember) that time is golden! This calculation sets the “clocks right” and helps us make the right decisions : knowing how to say NO when necessary or, on the contrary, to seize an opportunity when it presents itself to us!
so what do you think ?
Feel free to share the result of the calculator in the comments. I’m sure no one will get the same, because we are all different… According to your calculations!
